“I don’t know if I’m ever going to accept it, to be honest,” Strasburg said. “It’s something that I’m not happy about at all. That’s not why I play the game. I play the game to be a good teammate and win. You don’t grow up dreaming out playing in the big leagues to get shut down when the games start to matter. It’s going to be a tough one to swallow."

The team had originally set a date of Sept. 12 to end his season, but following a loss to the Miami Marlins on Friday, in which he gave up five runs in three innings, the team decided to move up that date. According to Kilgore, the Nationals noticed that Strasburg's breaking ball and "hop" on his fast ball have not been what the team is used to seeing.